The Brand Story Blog
How to Live your Brand with Rituals
Name the brands associated with the following: Walk into a restaurant and hear, “Welcome to...” Airline associated with peanuts. Warm gooey cookie served at check-in. Pink Cadillac Pink everything Blimp piloted by Snoopy Slice of lime in the beer bottle neck. Split...
Brand Concept: Aim your brand’s secret weapon
The first question I ask in Brand Workshops is, “When you think of Volvo, what’s the first word that comes to mind?” Invariably and without exception, participants reply, “Safety.” Volvo = Safety is a Brand Concept – the core idea of the brand. In this case, it’s a...
10 ways to build a slide deck that sells
PowerPoint is a powerful tool for telling brand stories -- as long as you don't use it to crank out mind-numbing bullets. Here are the steps I follow to build an engaging sales pitch: 1. Set your theme colors Not very sexy, but please do this first. Create a corporate...
SALES ENGINE: A brand-driven approach to generating sales.
Has your sales funnel run its course? The traditional “sales funnel” concept explains how sales leads progress from mild interest to done deal. As the sales person works the pipeline, sales leads make their way toward the narrower end of the funnel. Modern CRMs, like...
The Secret Sauce that connects customers to brands
Suppose I came to you with a business idea: SELLING POPSICLES. Unlike the colorful Popsicle brand, I want to sell mine as a frozen blob on a stick without any branding or packaging. And since Popsicles normally sell for $2.50 a dozen, I also want to price mine at...
Are Web programmers an endangered species?
As a writer and brand strategist, it's good to be back in the driver's seat. Let me start with some history. Twenty-five years ago, if you wanted to create a sales slick, you would have to sketch the layout with a pencil, pound the copy out on a typewriter, mark up...